Tolkien SocietyOur friends from The Tolkien Society send along a call for papers and news about their latest seminar:

The theme for this year’s seminar is “Freedom, Fate and Choice in the Middle-earth writings of J. R. R. Tolkien”. Papers are sought on a wide range of topics related to this theme, including concepts such as free will and doom. The Middle-earth material ranges from The Silmarillion and The Children of Hurin through the twelve volumes of the History of Middle-earth and Tolkien’s Letters to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

For complete details and how to submit your paper, please visit the official Tolkien Society website. [Tolkien Society]

Emerald RoseCeltic Folk Rockers (and TORn Friends) Emerald Rose received good news this week from producers at the American Movie Classics television channel. Their original instrumental ‘Unfinished Business’ has been chosen for a national commercial for a show called DVD_TV: The Graduate. The 30 second commercial begins airing on AMC this week on March 9 during the broadcast of DVD_TV: Forrest Gump and will air for the next four weeks. The commercial will be broadcast on satellite and cable channels across the US and marks a new level of success for the band. (If anyone can TiVO it, and upload to YouTube, we’d love to likn to it!)

The band is busy as ever, gearing up for St. Patrick’s Day area events starting with this week’s Dahlonega Celtic Music Festival, where they will share the billing with Irish supergroup Altan. Emerald Rose are featured performers in Atlanta’s St. Pat’s celebrations with shows at Underground Atlanta and several Irish pubs in the Atlanta area. For details and show times, check the group’s website at www.emeraldrose.com. [AMC Listing]

Battle Above the Black GateSideshow Collectibles is honoring the memory of a fallen co-worker by holding a charity auction to benefit the Diane Kamahele Memorial Fund – a fund set up to support Diane’s four children. One of the items will be of particular interest to LOTR fans:

This auction is for a one-of-a-kind treasure, an early sample of the faux-bronze version of the Battle Above the Black Gate Diorama. Our product development team tested several engineering solutions for this product, to ensure the product could be properly packaged for safe shipment. In this sample, the Fell Beast’s wings were designed to be detached from the body, intended to be packed separately for shipment to the collector … This is the only ‘detachable wing’ engineered sample of the Battle Above the Black Gate Diorama that exisits, or ever will exist, and you have the opportunity to own this archive-quality piece, which nicely illustrates the design & engineering present in every Sideshow product.

If you are a LOTR collector, this is a one of a kind item that you may not want to miss out on! And if you are simply feeling generous, the Memorial Fund accepts donations. [Black Gate Diorama Auction] [All Auctions] [Memorial Fund]

tolkientree.jpgMessage Board member ‘And Back Again’ pointed us to the following story at Times Online:

A rare first edition of The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien is expected to raise £30,000 at auction. The last photograph of Tolkien is also being auctioned at Bonhams, London, on March 18. It was taken in 1973 by his grandson Michael in the Botanic Garden, Oxford, and shows him standing beside his favourite tree. A note on the back written by Priscilla, his daughter, says: “For Elaine with love from Priscilla.” The book is also dedicated to Elaine Griffiths, the friend who urged him to have The Hobbit published. Other lots include illustrations by Tolkien and a copy of Farmer Giles of Ham.

Read the full story at Times Online. [Read More]

London, Feb 14 : Jet Airways, India’s premier airline, supported the launch of The Lord of the Rings Cast (Musical) album at the Theatre Royal here. The album features the 70 strong cast and orchestra, has lyrics by Shaun McKenna and Matthew Warchus and music by A.R. Rahman, Värttinä and Christopher Nightingale. This unique partnership between the production team of The Lord of the Rings and Jet Airways means that travellers flying to India on Jet Airways flights will be able to enjoy music from the show and watch an interview with India’s most renowned composer A.R. Rahman. Jet Airways partners launch of The Lord of the Rings musical album

TheRegent76, a registered user on our message boards, writes: I’d like to post about our fan film parody of Lord of the Rings (well, “fellowship”, really). We did it in the style of “Be Kind Rewind”, where they ‘Swede” films – taking something you love and remaking it in your own way. Our way was to be humorous and we’ve been blessed that people have been laughing at our efforts on youtube and the net. New Line even gave us a nod by linking to the youtube channel from the lordoftherings.net site, something I’m still amazed and happy by. So take a look and enjoy. Please let me know if you like it or hate it!